Baby Fits

I am taking a break from my provisional crochet cast-on (125 stitches of ribbing in a bamboo/cotton yarn that splits when you look at it – and I probably should have done the crochet chain more loosely…anyway, my eyes were starting to cross).  

I have had an uninterrupted afternoon of knitting – unless you consider laundry, “here, Mom, hold the baby for a minute” (ha! who on earth can hold a 3-week old baby for a mere minute?), the call from the college kid who has lost her cell phone or running out to get a car lubed (husband who was supposed to do so was on the phone dealing with lost cell phone situation) to be interruptions. 

Anyhow, I have had some time to work on Gwen’s layette pieces and so I have been pulling my hair out over the usual “how big to make it” issue.  One would think that sizing knits for a baby would be easy.  After all, knits stretch to fit and babies can be counted upon to grow – and the sensible thing is to make the layette pieces a bit largish and figure the baby will grow into them at some point.

Oh, that it were that simple! 

In my experience, babies come in a dizzying variation of proportions.  Long arms, short legs, big head or short arms, long torso, chunky feet or skinny legs, big head, short torso….And it is all well and good to have a lovely sweater that fits well – except for the arms.  Or a hat that fits around the head, but slides down over the eyes.  Or booties that are the right length in the foot, but too loose around the ankles. 

Then, throw in the temptation (which I cannot resist) to make matching sets: sweater, booties, bonnet.  I have this insane optimism that they will all fit the baby at the same time!  I could blame the publishers of hundreds of patterns which show a baby wearing the set of matching pieces (probably the sweater hangs open winsomely because it won’t close around the chubby belly while the hat has been stuffed with polyfil and the booties are duct-taped on).  But I should know better myself by now.

Even doing my own designs with the baby nearby to measure whenever I need to do so, I run into the same issue – because of the fluid variables of baby growth and knitting time.  Maybe her foot is 3 ½ inches long today (she has sweet kangaroo feet!), but will it sprout a half inch overnight?  The night I manage to get the second bootie done? 

 

Good heavens, I find myself stressing out over the cradle blanket I am knitting – biting my lip and wondering how long she will be sleeping in a cradle?  4 months?  Okay, it seems like I can get the cradle blanket done before it becomes obsolete – so maybe I had better go work on that second bootie – immediately!

Comments

[Angoragoblin]

How come it is easier to size things for adults then babies? Maybe cause they grow slower.